


sweetness in the salt

by wethethousands (atlantisairlock)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medical, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Disabled Character, F/F, First Meetings, Minor Character Death, Muteness, Natural Disasters, Soulmate Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2014-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-24 20:24:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2595305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/wethethousands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is how Natasha finds her soulmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sweetness in the salt

**Author's Note:**

> title from the TVB drama of the same name.

Natasha Romanoff is one and she's too young to understand, but her parents are talking heatedly with the paediatrician trying to understand  _how_ and  _why_ and  _will she ever find her soulmate if she can't speak the words that will be on their tattoo?_

Her mother has the words может я брать перо on her right forearm and her father's shoulder is - quite unfortunately - marked with neat characters that spell out одјебати материна. Natasha's tattoo is a simple three-word phrase on her collarbone -  _help me please_ \- and her parents can't help but wonder what's mapped out on the skin of their mute daughter's soulmate. 

 _She may never find her soulmate,_ the paediatrician advises, and Natasha grows up believing that.

 

 

She is eight and the other children at the ballet class she attends on weekends are comparing soulmate tattoos, giggling in the childlike way that only eight-year-olds can manage. One boy has unintelligible characters on his shoulder blade - Mandarin, they later discover, while the tallest girl in class has a simple "ouch" on her back that makes them laugh. 

Natasha doesn't bother showing them hers. They wouldn't  _understand._

 

 

She is thirteen and the flames are at her door and the roof is sagging and everything is crumbling and she's trapped and she can't even scream for help. 

The fire department puts out the fire before she suffocates to death, choking in the smoke-filled room. Natasha is just thirteen when she's left an orphan and taken in by her aloof, silent uncle who has no soulmate tattoo and no intention to talk about it, ever.

 

 

She is twenty-two and she's one of the best paramedics they have at Stark Hospital. She's heard her phrase -  _help me please, help me please, help me please_ \- screamed at her over and over, but every time she hears it still feels like it's the first. Natasha just  _has_ to check what their soulmate tattoo says. Sometimes they die in the ambulance before they can even get to the hospital, and her heart pounds until she sees that the words etched on the skin are there, words she'll never say to them. 

She has not found her soulmate. For most people, this would be a matter of concern; for her, she just says  _thank god._

 

 

She is twenty-eight and one of the worst earthquakes in the city's history has just struck. Natasha has been awake for over twenty-four hours now, helping out in the rescue missions. The death toll keeps rising, and the weight on her shoulders just gets heavier as the hours pass by. 

The strawberry blonde has seven lacerations, a greenstick upper arm fracture, an open lower leg fracture and severe abdominal bleeding. When Natasha gets her onto a stretcher, she gasps, chokes, grabs Natasha's hand and rasps  _help me, please._

The tears well up in her eyes despite herself as she squeezes her hand. 

_I will._

 

 

She is twenty-eight and the woman she saves asks for her two weeks after the earthquake. The city is recovering, picking itself up from the shambles. 

Nurse Hill says that  _Pepper Potts - you know, the one who we were talking about in the lunchroom - in Room 616 wants to thank you for saving her life._

Before Natasha even pushes the door open, she knows it's the blonde, who's in a cast and looks exhausted and who's smiling at Natasha like she  _didn't_ legally die on the operating table before Doctor Foster brought her back. 

"You're the paramedic! Natasha, right? You're the one who rescued me." 

Natasha just nods - what can she say, when she can't? 

"Thank you. I mean... I know you must've saved a lot of people that day. But... I just wanted to thank you in person." 

She takes a deep breath. This Pepper - she might not know sign language. She's learned the hard way that most people don't. But she tries anyway. Natasha signs _you're welcome_ slowly, thinking back to the way Pepper said  _help me, please._

She doesn't expect Pepper's eyes to widen. She doesn't expect Pepper to reach out instinctively, her other hand moving to roll her sleeve up.

Her left arm. Her fracture was on her right; Natasha barely took notice of her left when she established it wasn't fractured or dislocated or bleeding. Her left shoulder. The words aren't words at all. 

They're handsigns, tiny but distinguishable. She didn't even know that was possible. 

For the first time since her parents and the paediatrician ever sat her down and explained one of the implications of not being able to speak, Natasha feels hope blossom through her chest, red-hot and relieving.

She has never kissed anyone like she kisses Pepper the moment after the other woman speaks. Pepper's eyes are light and warm and fixated on her, one hand cupping Natasha's cheek. 

"I love you," Pepper breathes, shaky and touched with awe, and Natasha smiles through the tears in her eyes, signing back with her hands.

_I love you._


End file.
